Call to turn shops into courtrooms

Modern court buildings with advanced technology are not always needed to administer justice and hearing cases in shopping centres would give the public the chance to see the legal system at work, the Magistrates' Association said.

The proposals, which will be submitted to the Government, could provide an alternative to plans to close more than 100 magistrates' courts across the country.

Ministers have faced opposition from local campaigners since they proposed shutting the courts, including a dozen in Yorkshire said to be underused or no longer fit for purpose, as part of a 37m cost-cutting drive.

Magistrates' and county courts in Goole, Selby, Skipton, Keighley, Pontefract, Batley and Dewsbury are under threat.

The Magistrates' Association's deputy chairman, John Howson, said closing the courts may not be the best approach.

"Centralisation may not be the only way of doing it and it may risk compromising both speed and cost effectiveness," he added

"Pop-up courts in shopping centres would enable crime to be dealt with and punished very quickly."

Mr Howson said that if a group of persistent shoplifters needed to be dealt with, bailing them to turn up at court in two weeks' time may waste time and money.

"If you have a court which is there, that they can be taken to and have their crimes dealt with quickly, that may work better," he said.

"We need to be able to get a summary crime in to court as quickly as possible.

"In most cases people are on bail and are low-level offenders, so they don't need a very complicated building – in most cases they don't even need cells.

"The most cost-effective way of dealing with it may not be taking them further away, it may be decentralising them.

"And it's in line with the coalition Government's approach of putting services as close to people as possible.

"It's certainly an idea worth talking about."

Earlier this month, a Lithuanian lorry driver who crashed while more than three times the legal drink-drive limit was charged and jailed within just two hours under a virtual court scheme introduced last year.

Turlekas Kestutis, 47, had his case processed promptly due to the pilot scheme that links North Kent police station in Northfleet with Medway Magistrates' Court.

He crashed in Gravesend at about 4.15pm on August 8 and was arrested by police after failing to provide a roadside breath test.

Kestutis was allowed to sleep off the effects of the alcohol and was charged with driving a vehicle while over the drink-drive limit at 12.40pm the following day.

He then appeared using the virtual electronic court link at 2.30pm where he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 84 days' jail and banned from driving for three years.

Ministers said the scheme could save 10m a year if extended across England and Wales.

But solicitors have raised fears about potential threats to their security from sitting next to defendants during sentencing, instead them being in docks with dock officers.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "The Government is committed to supporting local justice, and is determined to re-assess the courts system to ensure it properly meets the needs of today's communities."